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Tips for Affiliate Marketing – 077

November 28, 2016 by kirstenoliphant@gmail.com 30 Comments

Affiliate sales can be a lucrative revenue stream, especially during the holiday season. If you aren’t using affiliate marketing, this means that you are recommending another person or company’s product and will get a commission upon sales. Sometimes it can be hard to get started, so here are my best tips for affiliate marketing.

This post contains affiliate links! This means at no extra cost to you, any purchases made through links in the post may result in a commission for me. Thanks for your support!

Listen to Episode 77 – Tips for Affiliate Marketing

 


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Thanks also to Jasmine Commerce for the music for the show!


The best tips for affiliate marketing- from programs to planning your launches.

TIPS FOR AFFILIATE MARKETING

Look for affiliate programs for the things you already use. 

So many different tools, apps, and courses have affiliate programs. Make a list of the things you use, from web hosting to your note-taking apps. Once you have a list of the things you use, check to see if they have an affiliate program. Usually this will be listed somewhere on the website. If not, google it or email the contact person.

When you get an email about a course or program you like, ask if there is an affiliate program.

A few times this year I received emails about courses or summits that were a great fit for my audience. I hit reply and asked if they had an affiliate program because the promotion would be  perfect for my people. Sometimes programs are only open to people who have purchased them. But other times, the creators are open to interested people. When in doubt, ask.

Decide what kind of products & courses you will promote.

Some people will only promote things they have or currently do use. I like to promote things that I have used in the past, use now, or are from someone that I trust enough to recommend without actually using or taking them. There are VERY few people I trust that much. You should decide what feels right for YOU. The programs and items you recommend should be things that you can stand behind or you may risk the trust of your audience.

You will make the best affiliate for products that you are PASSIONATE about. 

You will make the best affiliate for things you are passionate about.
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Do a mix of evergreen and promotional affiliate sales. 

Evergreen products or programs are things like items on Amazon. They are available at all times (though prices may fluctuate). Promotional products are things like courses that open or close, bundles that are limited times, or sales for specific days. Often the promotional launches will have a larger-scale affiliate program where you’ll get daily emails and sales copy that are designed to help you sell. Which leads me to the next tip.

Plan promotional launches on your calendar so you aren’t all promo, ALL the time. 

Especially when it comes to big launches of courses or larger products, you don’t want to layer too many on top of each other. If you are launching your own products too, you especially need to watch out for this. Try to plan out what launches will happen when (most course creators know months or a year ahead of time when they will run promotions) and put that on your calendar so it doesn’t get too crowed.

Offer an opt-out in your email. 

When you are running promotional affiliate sales over a period of time that will have multiple emails, offer your readers an opt-out. Depending on your email service provider, this may not be possible. In ConvertKit, I simply create a link with a tag that will automatically attach to that person’s email. Then when I send the next promotions, I can exclude the tag from people who aren’t interested in the promotion. This will cut down on the number of unsubscribes. (Read more about why I love ConvertKit!)

ALWAYS DISCLOSE.

For more on this, listen to episode 33. But in short, when it comes to affiliate marketing, you must disclose. This means that in your social media links, you will use a word like ad or affiliate or sponsored. NOT “aff” or “afflink” or “spon.” Those words are not clear to the general masses. Your disclosure should be clear to people who don’t know what affiliate marketing is. In a blog post you should have a statement before any outgoing affiliate links where you state that any sales made by clicking through links may result in a commission for you at no extra cost to them. If you want a longer disclosure explanation, you can have a post and link to that post, but you still need to have a statement that is clearly understood in your post, not simply a link to a post about disclosure. Read a great breakdown of the FTC rules on disclosure here.


Looking for some good affiliate programs?

  • ConvertKit (an email service provider)
  • Site Ground (a web host- this is my affiliate link!)
  • AppSumo (has deals on apps and programs– gives credit, not cash)
  • Affiliate Window (a central program with many brands within it)
  • Share-a-Sale (same as above- this is my affiliate link!)
  • CJ (same as above)
  • Ultimate Bundles (sells bundles of digital and physical products a few times a year — this is my affiliate link)
  • Amazon (offers a low commission and a short-lived cookie, but has tons of products many people use)

CYBER MONDAY DEALS I MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE!

ConvertKit is having a special November 28 & 29! You can get one month free, plus a month of Meet Edgar, a month of Teachable, 6o days of Samcart, 45 days of Wistia, and a ConvertKit tee. Get your free bundle here! (This is my affiliate link!)

SiteGround is offering 70% off hosting through Monday! If you’re tired of having your site down with Blue Host (that was the story of my life! Use Down Notifier to make sure your sites are up), then switch to Site Ground. They’ll even move you! Sign up for the hosting deal here! (This is my affiliate link!)

The Foundation Series is 50% off through the end of November 28. That’s only $24 for over four hours of workshops helping you bring clarity to your blog, email list, social media, and images. Use the code blackcyber.

I’ve opened up the beta price of the Create If Community Membership through the end of November 28. Use the code BETA to get grandfathered into the membership price. Find out more and sign up for the Create If Community Membership here!


What are your best tips for affiliate marketing? Leave them in the comments!

Filed Under: Monetizing, Show Notes

Comments

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    Reply
  2. Bobby Mason says

    June 20, 2017 at 6:24 am

    Great advise for all new affiliates. It takes a long time to get a reasonable amount of traffic. This will help a lot of people out

    Reply
  3. darlehen online berechnen says

    September 5, 2017 at 11:46 pm

    … "..you have become a voice of sanity"One hundred years ago liberalism was based on telling uncomfortable truths; today it's based on outrageous reality-denial. Field is a voice of obfuscation and misdirection.

    Reply
  4. Farah Osman says

    October 6, 2017 at 8:23 am

    Nice information,. i think this post very good.if we want to be a profesional affiliater, we must struggle for looking opportunity in every moment.

    Reply
  5. Shimon Lipkin says

    May 24, 2018 at 3:41 am

    Very helpful information. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  6. Duncan Staff says

    May 24, 2018 at 3:44 am

    You never knew how you just helped a newbie like me. WIll apply these all to my affiliate marketing blog. Thank you!

    Reply
  7. Chuck Guinn says

    May 24, 2018 at 5:12 am

    I am having a hard time really with promoting affiliate programs. And what I’ve read from your blog makes me wanna work hard again and push affiliate marketing career.

    Reply
  8. Wenceslaus Chan says

    May 24, 2018 at 5:45 am

    Thank you for sharing. Very helpful.

    Reply
  9. Josh Austin says

    May 24, 2018 at 5:52 am

    Thank you for sharing a such informative ideas about affiliate marketing.

    Reply
  10. Madonna Galloway says

    July 9, 2018 at 1:16 pm

    Thank you for sharing such an informative ideas about affiliate marketing.

    Reply
  11. Beverly Lavers says

    July 9, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    Very helpful post for a new like me. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  12. gary armony says

    July 20, 2018 at 5:10 am

    Thank you for sharing your ideas, very helpful.

    Reply
  13. liza lukacs says

    July 20, 2018 at 5:13 am

    Indeed true. And affiliate marketing result can be very great if done properly and with a lots of patience.

    Reply
  14. Mark Gibbons says

    July 20, 2018 at 5:16 am

    A newbie like me seeking for affiliate marketing guides are very greatful to bloggers who make time in helping us. More power to you!

    Reply
  15. Chapmanlynda0 says

    July 20, 2018 at 5:19 am

    Hope I can see more affiliate marketing information from you. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  16. Dane Burgdorf says

    July 20, 2018 at 5:24 am

    I think I benn doing it the wrong way. I don’t have really the patience to do all that stuffs but after reading your article, it somehow inspires me to go work on my affiliate marketing site again.

    Reply
  17. Noor Hayati says

    August 9, 2018 at 6:52 am

    Excellent article, I thing that to earn some money online is not so hard, but requires to learn to do it.

    Reply
  18. SAMIR BUMLAI DE GAYVA NADAF says

    October 3, 2018 at 6:41 am

    As a newbie, the tips you mentioned were a great help to my affiliate blog. I got a lot of traffic but really needs hardwork to attain the results.

    Reply
  19. Seth Simmons says

    October 3, 2018 at 6:53 am

    Great info about affiliate marketing. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  20. Antoin Ray says

    October 3, 2018 at 8:06 am

    Thank you for sharing. Great post!

    Reply
  21. meagan madson says

    December 8, 2018 at 9:59 am

    I totally agree with you. It needs a lot of patience when dealing with affiliate marketing.

    Reply
  22. Charles Hirsch says

    May 2, 2019 at 1:57 pm

    Thank you for providing these affiliate marketing info. More power to you.

    Reply
  23. Richard Chambers says

    May 2, 2019 at 2:27 pm

    It helped me a lot. Thank you for creating this article.

    Reply
  24. George Evers says

    May 2, 2019 at 2:34 pm

    Please keep on posting more info about affiliate marketing. Very helpful.

    Reply
  25. Monty Joyner says

    May 29, 2019 at 8:38 am

    I been looking for some ways how to manage affiliate marketing niche well and glad I came to this website. It’s very helpful.

    Reply
  26. Gulsoom Ibrahim says

    May 29, 2019 at 9:32 am

    Hi buddy! Super thank you for sharing this. I followed everything and I think my traffic change a little bit. It’s a good start for me. I can see I’m moving forward with this few traffic. It’s does really need a push.

    Reply
  27. Paul Chaytor says

    May 29, 2019 at 9:58 am

    Very true. And impressive article by the way. Points are very clear. Keep it up!

    Reply
  28. Sheung Hing Wong says

    May 30, 2019 at 8:46 am

    One day, I might see progress on what I am doing. I honestly lost but thanks to you. You are guiding a newbie like me. Many thanks!

    Reply
  29. Ramakrishnan Raju says

    May 30, 2019 at 10:48 am

    Great and impressive. I do hope you’ll write more specially about how to market affiliate products. I am having hard time making a single sale. Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  30. wesley kuhn says

    May 30, 2019 at 10:59 am

    Thank you for sharing such a wonderful and helpful ideas.

    Reply

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An epic course for fiction authors with practical strategies to create a six-figure income.

Hey, I'm Kirsten!

(Rhymes with BEER-sten.) I am the author of Email Lists Made Easy for Writers and Bloggers and the host of the Create If Writing podcast. My goal is to help writers, bloggers, and creatives like YOU turn readers into raving fans and learn to make a living doing what you love...without being smarmy. Questions? kirsten at kirstenoliphant.com

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